Mark Zuckerberg says that Facebook does not prioritize profit over safety and well-being and argues that many of Frances Haugen's claims don't make sense

I wanted to share a note I wrote to everyone at our company. — Hey everyone: it's been quite a week, and I wanted to share some thoughts with all of you.

Facebook 2021-10-07 Mark Zuckerberg

Context & Ripple Effects

Zuckerberg’s note revisits a tension Facebook had previously acknowledged: its 2017 plan to expand abuse prevention was expected to cut into future profits. The new message puts the company’s safety rationale directly against Haugen’s allegations.

Related coverage soon documents Facebook using talking points and staff briefings to steady employees, making the note part of a broader internal response rather than a standalone executive statement.

First-order effects

Facebook employees receive Zuckerberg’s formal rejection of the premise that the company trades user safety and well-being for profit, alongside his challenge to Haugen’s claims.

Second-order effects

Facebook’s internal communications effort shifts the immediate contest from the allegations alone to whether management can give employees a consistent account of the company’s safety decisions.

Third-order effects

If executive rebuttals increasingly substitute for specific, externally testable safety commitments, platform-accountability disputes will hinge more on access to internal evidence and less on corporate assurances.

The trend: Large platforms are treating safety controversies as internal-trust crises as well as public-policy disputes, pairing executive narratives with coordinated employee communications.

Discussion

@newday @newday on x
CNN's @donie fact-checks Mark Zuckerberg's response to the Facebook whistleblower's testimony at a Senate hearing on Tuesday. https://www.cnn.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
This Zuckerberg line — many of moderators they have are hired through subcontractors, are treated like shit (as @CaseyNewton has documented) and aren't paid anywhere near what Facebook employees are — and definitely don't have those free Facebook perks. https://twitter.com/...
@cat_zakrzewski Cat Zakrzewski on x
Mark Zuckerberg finally speaks about Frances Haugen's revelations, and his tone is defiant. He tells employees it's “frustrating to see the good work we do get mischaracterized.” https://www.facebook.com/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
Maybe if Facebook coughed up the cash and actually brought moderators in-house, trained up the people to their standard, and took responsibility for that... and paid them right, that might make Zuckerberg a bit more credible on this.
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
There was a lot of deflection in that 1,300-word screed from Mark Zuckerberg last night trying to undermine @FrancesHaugen. Tried to break it down here. #ZuckerbergAnnotated https://twitter.com/...
@newday @newday on x
.@SenBlumenthal says the Senate will invite Mark Zuckerberg to testify in response to the Facebook whistleblower's testimony. “I can't tell you whether he will accept. But I think Mark Zuckerberg has an obligation to tell the American people himself” https://www.cnn.com/... https…
@_karenhao Karen Hao on x
To counteract this, FB's strategy is to use content demotions. This is what Bickert is talking about. It trains machine-learning algorithms to detect different types of bad content—nudity, misinfo, hate speech, etc—and then pushes it down in a user's newsfeed.
@_karenhao Karen Hao on x
As I write in my piece, FB's content ranking system is fundamentally designed to maximize engagement. FB also knows—and has publicly admitted—that there is a positive correlation between content that is banned on the platform and content that is the most engaging. See this chart.…
@vladsavov Vlad Savov on x
Former Facebook product manager @FrancesHaugen: the company consistently puts profit over user safety. Mark Zuckerberg: Not *every* time. There was this one time back in 2016...
@digiphile Alex Howard on x
🚭@finkd posted a note he sent to all @facebook staff: https://www.facebook.com/... Zuckerberg says “coverage” (@WSJ!) misrepresents & mischaracterizes internal research, & that it's “just not true” that Facebook prioritizes profits over safety & well being. How about over democra…
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
This line is definitely the most LOL of Zuckerberg's statement tonight, they literally hide results like this THIS year [If we wanted to hide our results, why would we have established an industry-leading standard for transparency and reporting on what we're doing?]
@sanjanah Sanjana Hattotuwa on x
The single greatest tragedy of Facebook - & I mean this as someone who sees great potential, benefits & good as consequence of platform/product use - is to have this man's tone deafness define it https://www.facebook.com/... How can one address a problem if it isn't even acknowle…
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
In all seriousness, Zuckerberg has the best response of all of the FB responses so far — granted, a very low bar — with the makings of some decent places to work on making it better. He should come and talk at length about it with someone he disagrees with.
@owillis Oliver Willis on x
I am 100% certain that Zuckerberg has a lair.
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
Jesus. This Zuckerberg essay needs to be annotated.
@fboversight @fboversight on x
Mark Zuckerberg responds. Tl;DR: ‘Like many of you, I found it difficult to read the mischaracterisation...[etc etc for 2,099 words*]’ https://www.facebook.com/...
@bengrosser Ben Grosser on x
Zuckerberg tonight: “At the heart of these accusations is this idea that we prioritize profit over safety and well-being. That's just not true.” Zuckerberg from 2004-2019: https://vimeo.com/... One of these Zucks is not compatible with the other.
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
If you ever needed evidence that Zuckerberg is surrounded by yes-men. https://twitter.com/...
@bradmossesq Bradley P. Moss on x
I read the whole post. Let me sum it up for you: “Everything is fine, this is all lies. We're awesome here at Facebook and don't do any of the stuff the documents suggest.” https://twitter.com/...
@chrismatyszczyk Chris Matyszczyk on x
Oh, Lordy. You are no Spock, Mr. Zuckerberg. https://twitter.com/...
@jesselehrich Jesse Lehrich on x
breathtakingly disingenuous — Zuck plays the victim card from his sailboat, painting Facebook's own research as awful smears on his idyllic startup. a genocide, an insurrection, & teen suicide epidemic late for this routine. https://twitter.com/...
@kellymakena Makena Kelly on x
Important to note, no where in this blog does Zuck discuss testifying before the committee. Lawmakers have already signaled that they want to bring him in, several suggesting subpoenaing him. https://twitter.com/...
@ceciliakang Cecilia Kang on x
2. He is particularly troubled by the Instagram and teens stories, and says research was taken out of context. Why then did Facebook cherry pick documents to release to public and not the ones that the @wsj used to base their story? https://twitter.com/...
@lukebuckmaster Luke Buckmaster on x
“This is some Big Tobacco bullshit — precisely what sleazeball PR guru John Scanlon was hired to do when Jeffrey Wigand blew the whistle on tobacco company Brown and Williamson.” https://www.theverge.com/...
@ceciliakang Cecilia Kang on x
3. Zuckerberg says he personally disturbed by news coverage of kids' harms. He shelved Instagram Kids because of the bad coverage. Would he commit to never applying engagement ranking systems to Any products for kids? No behavioral advertising ever? No data collection at all? htt…
@andymstone Andy Stone on x
Just pointing out the fact that @FrancesHaugen did not work on child safety or Instagram or research these issues and has no direct knowledge of the topic from her work at Facebook.
@samidh @samidh on x
Well I was there for over 6 years, had numerous direct reports, and led many decision meetings with C-level execs, and I find the perspectives shared on the need for algorithmic regulation, research transparency, and independent oversight to be entirely valid for debate. https://…
@joeosborne Joe Osborne on x
Our statement on today's hearing: https://twitter.com/...
@persily Nate Persily on x
If Congress is serious about regulating Facebook and promoting transparency, it should start with legislation that would require large online platforms to share data with outside researchers. Here is a draft legislation that would do just that. https://www.dropbox.com/...
@cwarzel Charlie Warzel on x
what's cool about Haugen's testimony and this hearing is a real focus on amplification and algorithm design and not just censorship and BAD INFO. it feels like the advancement of the facebook conversation/critique that a lot of close followers have been hoping for
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
What Facebook top execs do not get at this important moment is that @FrancesHaugen of Facebook is @susanthesquark of @Uber — and we know how that went down.
@justinamash Justin Amash on x
Facebook's incessant pleading for Section 230 reform and more government regulations should be the biggest clue that Section 230 is needed and the government should keep its hands off the internet.
@ranimolla Rani Molla on x
So any of Facebook's 60K employees could have accessed the same damning documents Haugen did. Two questions: 1) Why didn't they? 2) Are companies going to button up what you can access on Workplace/Slack/Teams?
@evan_greer Evan Greer on x
Nearly two hours into this hearing it is kinda wild to me that no one has even mentioned in passing that YouTube uses the exact same engagement ranked algorithmic manipulation model, and is used by ... probably way more kids than Instagram. It's not just about FB, we need policy
@birnbaum_e Emily Birnbaum on x
Every senator I've approached during this hearing has indicated they plan to ask Mark Zuckerberg to testify about the whistleblower's revelations — either voluntarily or by subpoena. Sen. Roger Wicker said there's a “bipartisan consensus” on that. something to look forward to!
@sheeraf Sheera Frenkel on x
In her testimony, @FrancesHaugen is giving senators a roadmap of next steps. Ask FB for more of their research! Focus on the algorithms/amplification and not speech issues! If lawmakers follow this guidance this could be one of the most impactful hearings we have seen to-date.
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
One thing I appreciate about FB whistleblower Frances Haugen is that her background is in designing algorithms. Congressional scrutiny of social media until now has focused heavily on speech policy and “censorship.” Haugen refocuses the conversation around the platform's design.
@pinboard @pinboard on x
Facebook insider testimony is valuable, but Congress should not make policy based on a former Facebook exec's recommendations any more than they would regulate cigarettes by listening to Big Tobacco. On Section 230, they should solicit testimony from what's left of the open web
@austen Austen Allred on x
Why won't Facebook simply fix the flaws in the human condition wtf
@carolinegreer Caroline Greer on x
The very real risk with the current debate is that we end up discussing solutions (product & legislative) that might work for Facebook but not other platforms. Facebook ≠ Internet, nor indeed other platforms. https://twitter.com/...
@justinhendrix Justin Hendrix on x
I think that is the first NEWS out of the hearing- Haugen' points to national security issues around Facebook's resourcing of counterterrorism and teams intended to counter foreign influence. Says she is talking to other Committees on this question. Clip: https://www.c-span.org/.…
@carolecadwalla Carole Cadwalladr on x
Monika Bickert is basically the Facebook's laundryman. She goes to clean up the bodies and spray fresh machine gun fire around. She's now saying the docs that @FrancesHaugen took were “stolen” https://twitter.com/...
@pinboard @pinboard on x
Section 230 repeal in particular, the way it is being discussed, would simply bring the world of personal injury lawsuits to the internet and guarantee the extinction of whatever remaining social bits of the open web that have not yet been subsumed into the big five oligopoly.
@carolecadwalla Carole Cadwalladr on x
This attempt by Facebook to discredit the testimony today of Facebook whistleblower @FrancesHaugen is so utterly misguided. It reinforces exactly what she said: that Facebook is trapped within a cycle of lies, deceit, denial & avoidance. And until it recognises that, it's doomed …
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
Facebook's PR strategy of trying to discredit their own former employee who came across as extremely credible, composed, and well-informed seems like it is going... not super well? https://twitter.com/...
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
Monika Bickert: -lawyer assigned to team which according to FTC antitrust complaint, leaked emails suppressed competitive threats. -with colleague testified falsely Cambridge Analytica didn't have Facebook's data a month before they admitted they did. She has zero credibility. ht…
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
Facebook is more concerned about people than profit during an outage of its services, says Zuckerberg. He's integrated Instagram and WhatsApp into the FB world in a way to sell us more to advertisers. What role did all that play in the outage of all apps at the same time? https:/…
@leah_nylen @leah_nylen on x
On the sidelines of today's Facebook whistleblower hearing, Republican Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) told my colleague @birnbaum_e that it may be time to break up social media companies: https://www.politico.com/...
@evan_greer Evan Greer on x
Honestly don't know how to say this any more bluntly at this point: If you are supporting Section 230 “reform” in this moment, you are actively helping Facebook do harm, and you are actively working against basic human rights, particularly for marginalized people & activists. htt…
@mattzeitlin Matthew Zeitlin on x
lol come on, what are we doing here https://twitter.com/...
@nytimesbusiness @nytimesbusiness on x
“This is a perfect example of why you can't rely on a single channel to bring in all of your revenue,” one ad agency executive said about Monday's Facebook outage. “It's just far too risky to rely on Facebook to be there for your business long term.” https://www.nytimes.com/...
@dseetharaman Deepa Seetharaman on x
Two things stick out. 1) Bickert now calling the documents “stolen” 2) the defense that the majority of teens like Instagram. If a minority of teens are damaged, is that canceled out by those having fun? https://twitter.com/...
@reckless Nilay Patel on x
Here's @mslopatto with a clear-eyed read on Facebook's response to the whistleblower https://www.theverge.com/...
@public_citizen @public_citizen on x
This is pathetic. Of course, they try to slander the whistleblower. But you know what Facebook doesn't dispute? The documents the whistleblower shared, which prove that Facebook knows the damage it's doing yet refuses to modify its policies. Break this monstrosity up. https://twi…
@benshapiro Ben Shapiro on x
Understand that the Facebook “whistleblower” story is just the next step in the never-ending Democrat-media quest to cudgel Facebook into quashing alternative media.
@eliehonig Elie Honig on x
In whatever format may come for Facebook - legislative, regulatory, courts - witnesses don't get any better than Frances Haugen: insider access, deep expertise, backed by records, clear and credible. Facebook would be foolish to smear her.
@kimiversenshow Kim Iversen on x
The so called “whistleblower” appears to be more of a Dem operative who is lobbying public opinion for more Big tech control over our elections, opinions, medical choices, health etc. All of which will be in line with Dem establishment agenda. https://twitter.com/...
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
1. I was impressed with @FrancesHaugen, but her logic on break-ups is flawed. She argued that advertisers only want one platform, so a break-up would mean that several platforms would end up dying because advertisers would only advertise on Instagram. https://t.co/FCuIoz17un
@sokane1 Sean O'Kane on x
“This is some Big Tobacco bullshit” https://www.theverge.com/...
@alexstamos Alex Stamos on x
@WillOremus The source code doesn't mean much without the training sets for all the classifiers and the personalization data for the user. A better move is to legally force companies to allow researchers to see the real feeds of volunteers. https://twitter.com/...
@vladsavov Vlad Savov on x
Haugen's Senate testimony was the most bipartisan moment in US politics for many years: You couldn't tell what party anyone was from, all were united in their distrust of Facebook.
@asharangappa_ Asha Rangappa on x
LOL I had to listen to this twice to make sure I didn't mishear: This @Facebook exec repeatedly refers to a “survey” of FORTY teen Insta users— as in 4-0 — to support her assertion that the “majority” of teens have a great experience on the platform. For real. Listen to it https:…
@lutherlowe Luther Lowe on x
She also inexplicably goes out of her way to inaccurately praise Google for transparency. The WSJ noted Google picked up the tab for her MBA at Harvard. I'm thankful she leaked the docs, but this is a deeply flawed message. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@nicolegoodkind Nicole Goodkind on x
Frances Haugen says she's “actually against the breaking up of Facebook.” So she'd like to let the company remain a trillion-dollar monopoly but also create a federal agency to regulate it which she says should employ former Facebook employees.
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
This stand is not as incoherent as people are making it out to be. If you view FB's problems as largely common to other social platforms, and you view regulation as the answer, then a fragmented, competitive market arguably makes those problems less tractable than a monopoly. htt…
@tonyromm Tony Romm on x
you must... a) view regulation as the answer as some on the left do b) generally believe monopolies are not inherently bad as some on the right do c) take the out-of-vogue stance that the bureaucracy can withstand regulatory capture by those it oversees https://twitter.com/...
@parismarx Paris Marx on x
This is what happens when you fundamentally have faith in Silicon Valley and believe the problems you identified are the exception, not the rule. Haugen has worked in tech for years, and even praised Google (a previous employer) in her testimony. https://twitter.com/...
@shocks Hank Hell on x
explicitly proposing regulatory capture as a solution. what a time to be alive. https://twitter.com/...
@lachlan Lachlan Markay on x
And, inevitably, future Facebook employees https://twitter.com/...
@sylviavarnham Sylvia Varnham O'Regan on x
Asked about regulatory changes, Haugen says she supports: - Reforming Section 230 so that Facebook is accountable for its algorithm, but not for user-generated content. - Establishing a dedicated oversight body within the federal government. - She is opposed to breaking up FB.
@swodinsky Shoshana Wodinsky on x
@WillOremus @JesseLehrich i think haugen's right that the typical approach to “breaking up big tech” would be an ineffective solution to the issues she raised — but regulatory oversight alone isn't the answer here imo. *something* needs to break
@alibreland Ali Breland on x
facebook whistleblower frances haugen's leaks are important and great, but her recommendations for fixing fb during today's senate hearing (like creating federal unit of fb employees to regulate the company) are not so great. i wrote about it here: https://www.motherjones.com/ ..…
@matthewstoller Matt Stoller on x
2. That logic leads to one giant monopoly. But we've never seen that! Why? Because we used to have competitive intermediaries - aka firms like we saw in Mad Men - who could buy on multiple channels. Today Google and FB have vertically integrated that away. But we need them!
@ggreenwald Glenn Greenwald on x
Exactly. They don't want to break up Facebook or even weaken its reach and power. They want to preserve that power but transfer it to themselves so that they can use it for their own ends: https://twitter.com/...
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
To be clear, I'm not endorsing Haugen's view. I think there are a lot of good arguments for antitrust action to break up the platform monopolies. Just saying it's not crazy and doesn't make her dumb or a techno-libertarian or a Big Tech apologist as some dunkers keep suggesting.
@gillibrandny Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand on x
.@FrancesHaugen is right - we need a dedicated regulatory agency to hold Facebook and other Big Tech companies accountable for how their algorithms push misinformation and how our data is used and misused for their profit. We need a Data Protection Agency. https://twitter.com/...
@klonick Kate Klonick on x
We do need an agency, but it should never be in charge of misinformation, and at least as @gillibrandny summarizes it here, this would be wildly unconstitutional. https://twitter.com/...
@issielapowsky Issie Lapowsky on x
@FrancesHaugen Blackburn says it's a problem that FB removed 600k underage users in a three month period. Wait til she hears that TikTok kicked off 7 million in the same time period https://www.protocol.com/...
@schwartzesque Mattathias Schwartz on x
I don't want to say that Andy flat-out lied to me during our initial 2017 phone calls about Cambridge Analytica. So hard to know if spokespeople are being mendacious, or are just out of the loop. Regardless, nothing he says about a breaking crisis should be taken at face value. h…
@senjohnthune Senator John Thune on x
Facebook users should be given more transparency & power over what info they're fed on FB. Users need to be empowered to make their own decisions about the content they want to see. https://twitter.com/...
@samidh @samidh on x
So @Facebook let's dispense with the ad hominem distraction and instead focus on real discussion of the issues at hand and the proposals being brought forth (e.g., by @persily today). The public deserves better.
@bigblackjacobin Edward Ongweso Jr on x
genuinely don't understand Haugen's anti-antitrust takes. she says FB has a long list of abuses, that it has reached a near trillion dollar valuation prioritizing profits over safety, that it cannot staff its own projects, but should stay whole and get a special agency for itself…
@cspan @cspan on x
Frances Haugen: “Facebook changed those safety defaults in the run-up to the election because they knew they were dangerous. And, because they wanted that growth back, they wanted the acceleration of the platform back after the election, they returned to their original defaults.”…
@juliacarriew Julia Carrie Wong on x
Just pointing out a fact https://twitter.com/...
@franceshaugen Frances Haugen on x
Here is the full text of my opening statement to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation: https://www.franceshaugen.com/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@bostonjoan @bostonjoan on x
Facebook Whistleblower really putting the screws to the companies' major talking points over the years. Making claims the company did not remove as much hate speech and misinformation as they claim. It's difficult to know from the outside how to verify this.
@bernstein Joe Bernstein on x
A federal misinformation agency is an unconscionably bad idea. Please just think literally one step ahead https://twitter.com/...
@joeosborne Joe Osborne on x
@NicoleGoodkind This is wrong. We left a number of the measures on through Jan 6, added additional measures following the violence at the Capitol, and made some of the changes-like not recommending political groups-permanent. Again, Ms. Haugen didn't work on these efforts - but t…
@larakate @larakate on x
I have empathy for the FB comms team. They're carrying water for decisions they don't make and that's hard. But trying to discredit @FrancesHaugen via tweets is gross and also not a winning comms strategy.
@kellymakena Makena Kelly on x
Klobuchar asks if teens are some of Facebook's most profitable users: Haugen: “I'm sure they are some of the more profitable users on Facebook, but I do not work directly on them.”
@evelyndouek Evelyn Douek on x
It's still baffling to me that the hearing on social media and teen mental health last ignored... the app where all the teens are https://twitter.com/...
@brandyzadrozny Brandy Zadrozny on x
Facebook's aggressive, kinda smug pushback response, undermining the credibility of Frances Haugen, its own internal researchers, and outside researchers last month is an interesting strategy. I'm no expert, is there a way that this is good PR? (Seriously asking.) https://twitter…
@marshablackburn Sen. Marsha Blackburn on x
If Facebook wants to discuss its targeting of children, come forward and testify. https://twitter.com/...
@johnpaczkowski John Paczkowski on x
Bad look considering she disclosed this AND so much FB research is available internally. https://twitter.com/...
@franceshaugen Frances Haugen on x
I'll be testifying to the Senate tomorrow at 10a ET / 7a PT about @Instagram and @Facebook's impacts on children and society at large. You can watch here: https://www.commerce.senate.gov/ ...
@senmarkey Ed Markey on x
Here's my message for Mark Zuckerberg. https://twitter.com/...
@rwpusa Richard W. Painter on x
How many people around the globe died horrible deaths so Facebook could maximize profits? Today's testimony should end the lie that profit maximization is the only goal of corporate governance. If not, we can kiss democracy and our market economy good bye. https://www.cnn.com/...
@sachabaroncohen Sacha Baron Cohen on x
RT to tell @FrancesHaugen: Thank you for your courage in standing up to Facebook and the lies and hate it spreads! It's time to hold Mark Zuckerberg accountable. #FacebookKills https://twitter.com/...
@joncoopertweets Jon Cooper on x
“I believe Facebook's products harm children, stoke division & weaken our democracy. The company's leadership knows how to make Facebook & Instagram safer but won't make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people.” https://www.cnn.com/...
@repkenbuck Rep. Ken Buck on x
Where is Mark Zuckerberg? I would love to hear from him.
@charlieangusndp Charlie Angus Ndp on x
The all-party Parliamentary Ethics Committee did a deep dive into toxic corporate nature of Facebook. It's time to break up the monopoly. The Algorithms that drive extremist content must be tackled. The privacy rights of citizens must be protected. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@_karenhao Karen Hao on x
.@FrancesHaugen's Senate testimony today echoed many of my findings from my 9-month investigation into Facebook's Responsible AI team. I pulled together the most relevant parts of my reporting to give more context to the points she raised. https://www.technologyreview.com/ ...
@wjz @wjz on x
Frances Haugen, the Facebook whistleblower who first came forward in an explosive “60 Minutes” interview, told a Senate subcommittee on Tuesday that there is “no one” holding Mark Zuckerberg accountable except for himself. https://www.cbsnews.com/...
@sensanders Bernie Sanders on x
Wealth of Mark Zuckerberg in 2009: $2 billion Wealth of Mark Zuckerberg today: $122 billion Yes. It's time to break up Facebook, break up Big Tech & demand that the wealthy & powerful pay their fair share of taxes. We cannot continue to let Facebook put profits over safety.
@cindygallop Cindy Gallop on x
“I'm in tears watching @FrancesHaugen. My 15 yo daughter loved her body at 14. On Instagram constantly. Suddenly started hating her body & body dysmorphia, now anorexia, & was in deep deep trouble b4 we found treatment. I fear she will never be the same.” https://www.nytimes.com/…
@mollyjongfast Molly Jong-Fast on x
More proof that Democracy dies on Facebook https://twitter.com/...
@mat Mat Honan on x
Incredible explainer here from @_KarenHao on why @FrancesHaugen's shift of focus from content moderation to algorithms is so important, and why it is the *algorithm* as much as the content itself that ultimately matters https://www.technologyreview.com/ ...
@cindygallop Cindy Gallop on x
'We're moving into hour 3 of @FrancesHaugen's testimony and she hasn't shown any signs of flagging. Confident, poised and accurate, for my money she is one of the most impressive critics of Facebook I've seen appear on Capitol Hill.' @MikeIsaac @nytimes https://www.nytimes.com/..…
@jdvance1 J.D. Vance on x
I am certain some shady stuff is happening at Facebook and you'll never convince me otherwise.
@slpng_giants @slpng_giants on x
Yesterday, @FrancesHaugen testified in front of Congress that @facebook knows that they are creating eating disorders in young women, amplifying disinformation and damaging democracy. Today, not one advertiser has left Facebook nor made a statement.
@snowden Edward Snowden on x
Zuckerberg responds to a global outage and national scandal by claiming @Facebook is the real victim here, and modestly proposing Congress consider: A) legally restricting teen use of internet services B) identify verification mandates C) limiting teen privacy On-brand, really. h…
@schwartzesque Mattathias Schwartz on x
@jason_kint He was pleasant enough, if memory serves. As the complaint says, he said that CA obtaining personal data from unwitting Facebook users was news to Facebook and to him, and that my query was the thing that had first brought it to their attention. And wouldn't confirm i…
@sachabaroncohen Sacha Baron Cohen on x
I apologise. The conspiracy theorists were right. There IS a secretive, global organization that preys on children, gets them hooked and profits off the harm it inflicts. This year it expects to make $117 billion. It's called Facebook & Instagram. #FacebookHarmsChildren https://t…
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
In hindsight, I guess the underlying tactical blunder was hiring a team of smart, very idealistic people and tasking with finding the worst things about your platform so you can improve it, but then ignoring their recommendations, hiding their findings, and dissolving their team.
@ronfilipkowski Ron Filipkowski on x
Madison Cawthorn defends Zuckerberg, and says that Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen is just “advocating censorship,” and wants to suppress free speech. https://twitter.com/...
@amyklobuchar Amy Klobuchar on x
Mark Zuckerberg sits on his sailboat while kids are harmed by his product and Facebook profits. I think enough is enough. https://twitter.com/...
@senmarkey Ed Markey on x
Left to its own, Facebook will continue harming teens, stoking division, and damaging our democracy because its top priority is its bottom line. Regulate Facebook. https://www.nytimes.com/...
@carolecadwalla Carole Cadwalladr on x
Very happy to contribute to @stokel's fascinating piece about Facebook's spokesdude, @andymstone who, I think, exemplifies the Trumpification of Facebook. To be clear, I was not the person to call him a dick. https://twitter.com/...
@blackcatunloads Aaron Black on x
Mark Zuckerberg has been saying Congress needs to regulate Facebook, but he is clearly paying damn near every lobbying firm on K Street to try to prevent that from happening. Mark is not credible. His lie, deflect, and deny tactics are not going to work out for him much longer.
@stephenjbrooks @stephenjbrooks on x
@Snowden @Facebook No fan of facebook but that's not really what he's saying there. He's asking the govt to take a consistent approach rather than saying “bad things are happening and we are going to blame facebook who can magically fix it all”
@jessekellydc Jesse Kelly on x
Best part of all the Facebook “whistleblower” stuff is Zuckerberg whining about it. Dude blew MILLIONS making sure the communists won in 2020. Now they turn on him. Communists have no loyalty to anything but more communism. It's fun watching their backers find that out.
@davenewworld_2 @davenewworld_2 on x
If you or a loved one used Facebook while Mark Zuckerberg knew the algorithm was messing with people's mental health, you may be entitled to financial compensation.
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
Here you can watch @SRuhle throw a question that deeply disorients Antigone Davis. She is the Facebook Global Head of Safety. A bit Orwellian n'est pas? How should we think about her public lying and the damage her company is doing to children all over the world? First, there htt…
@jason_kint Jason Kint on x
I know press are cautious on calling something a “lie” but it sure as hell seems Facebook and Andy Stone lied here in March 2017 which is what called into question answers provided to UK Parliament and Mark Zuckerberg's testimony to Congress. 1/3 https://twitter.com/...
@bascule @bascule on x
“If we wanted to ignore research, why would we create an industry-leading research program to understand these important issues in the first place?” Good question, why did tobacco and fossil fuel companies also ignore their scientists? https://www.theguardian.com/ ...
@slightlylate Alex Russell on x
Reading Zuckerberg's whataboutism note in full, the phrase “industry-leading” (5x!) is the biggest tell. The point is to make comparisons to his defeated foes, as though they are the bar for the social pro/con weigh-up
@pinboard @pinboard on x
Amash is right that Facebook wants to keep the conversation around Section 230 (the part that lets forums not be liable for terrible things users post) since that poses no threat to its core moneymaking activity, selling ads through intrusive surveillance-based machine learning.
@pinboard @pinboard on x
The reform that would really break Facebook would be strict limits on behavioral data collection, and a ban on using customer data in third-party ad targeting. This would bring advertising back to the pre-2000 status quo and demonetize some of the worst behaviors on social media.…
@rjcc Richard Lawler on x
The thing I like about this Facebook PR-approved interpretation (per @andymstone calling it clear-headed and sober) is that it misses the entire point. The research is notable because it's Facebook's own data that they didn't willingly share. Not because it's “conclusive” https:/…
@andymstone Andy Stone on x
From @anya1anya: “The Facebook research was not peer-reviewed or designed to be nationally representative, and some of the statistics that have received the most attention were based on very small numbers...[the findings are actually] a subset of a subset of a subset.”
@andymstone Andy Stone on x
A sober, clearheaded look at how Facebook's research about Instagram, teens and well-being has been misrepresented and what it actually shows. https://twitter.com/...
@anya1anya Anya Kamenetz on x
What does Facebook's own internal data actually say about teens + suicidal thoughts? 1/ https://www.npr.org/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
Facebook's Monika Bickert goes on CNN after the Facebook whistleblower hearing. https://twitter.com/...
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
I'd like to unpack this interview and critique it from the perspective of someone who has been involved in many corporate crisis situations. The Harvard Law graduate, Bickert, is clearly viewed as the best and most credible spokesperson at Facebook. She is senior enough https://t…
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
offenders, abusers of children. This is deliberate and rehearsed. It was discussed. It's premeditated. So is the decision to not use @FrancesHaugen's name. It dehumanizes her. She's a “former employee”. Her identity beyond the Facebook campus has been erased and make no
@emilyglazer Emily Glazer on x
Facebook executives have discussed the possibility of suing whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former employee, to allege she stole company documents, sources said. Some have raised concerns about whether such a move would cause further reputational damage.
@samschech Sam Schechner on x
NEW: Facebook slows rollout of some new products and puts hold on some work on existing products, in part as it conducts “reputational reviews” to examine products' adverse impact on children and how FB may be criticized. By @EmilyGlazer & @dseetharaman https://www.wsj.com/...
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
mistake that is a warning to the next Whistleblower. After the interview Bickert was likely congratulated by a team of handlers, each ecstatic that she was able to label the incriminating documents as stolen. Each question was adroitly deflected towards
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
Lastly, I have a psychological observation. Ms. Bickert seems genuinely affronted. She is angry and aggrieved that she must answer questions around intentions. I think this means that Facebook Executives live in a cloistered bubble. It creates a worldview where it is presumed
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
and credentialed enough to insulate Zuckerberg and Sandberg from the building stories. She is skilled at making declarative assertions that sound credible, real, believable and responsible at first blush. Her confidence and assertiveness quickly pull the interview into a
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
discussion about Facebook process. The quagmire that results is purposeful. The answers are supposed to be stultifying, boring, inaccessible and incomprehensible. She is skilled at delivering an authoritative, “Don't worry about it, I got this. We got this. Trust us. We have
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
experts and believe it or not we even hired some of them." At the beginning she credentials herself, not by explaining what it is that she does, but rather by what she once did. She presents herself as a public servant, a Prosecutor, specifically a prosecutor of the worst
@johnlundin @johnlundin on x
Zuckerberg is doing this all wrong. He should simply be telling us he hears our concerns and will be addressing them. Then, he can quietly go back to doing nothing. ‘Analysis: Zuckerberg goes after the Facebook whistleblower, but he flounders’ - CNN - https://cnn.com/...
@hughhewitt Hugh Hewitt on x
Ooof @Facebook. Who is counseling you and your spokespeople to label the documents “stolen?” That smacks of attacking the whistleblower even if the allegation that the company is considering suing her is exaggerated (which I have to believe). L https://www.wsj.com/...
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
algorithmic malice and greed. Every Facebook spokesperson on television is a profoundly wealthy defender of indefensible public conduct by a trillion dollar company that cannot and must not be trusted. Every assertion should be challenged. Every lie confronted. There are few
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
must realize that he is a couple of interviews away from crewing a yacht around the Isle of Wright with Tony Hayward, so it is likely we will all be seeing more of Ms. Bickert as these scandals grow and the malevolence of Facebook is confronted by the society it has ravaged with
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
issues that are more important for Americans to understand than how Facebook operates and what its impact is. That is why books like @ceciliakang and @sheeraf “ An Ugly Truth” are essential reading. Silicon Valley spin may seem novel but it's the same BS as it's DC cousin.
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
that people who live on manicured properties in Atherton can do no wrong. There is a mutually reinforcing culture of moral superiority and smugness that swirls about Silicon Valley. This video was a little sampling.
@mikejason73 Mike Jason on x
A peek behind the world of strategic communications and how leaders (or their spox) of powerful organizations are prepped to face the public during catastrophic crisis. Take it for its worth. https://twitter.com/...
@donie Donie O'Sullivan on x
Since some of the end of the interview was clipped off on the video above: https://www.youtube.com/...
@steveschmidtses Steve Schmidt on x
Safety partners, safety experts, and safety studies. A blizzard of words and empty assertions delivered with confidence can accomplish amazing results such as when Bickert is able to casually assert that Social Media makes the teenagers feel better about themselves. @nickclegg
@benfritz Ben Fritz on x
Facebook has been tightening the reins on what information is shared internally over the past few weeks. A team within the company is examining all in-house research that could potentially damage Facebook's image if made public. https://www.wsj.com/...
@ceciliakang Cecilia Kang on x
noticed this too and in Zuck's post, no reference to @FrancesHaugen, even vaguely. https://twitter.com/...
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
It's interesting to hear a Facebook executive describe internal document obtained by Frances Haugen as “stolen.” Facebook's own employee exit agreements actually allow them to share information with regulators. Here's what a recent one said: https://twitter.com/...
@karissabe Karissa Bell on x
Interesting that these are “reputational” reviews, not ethical reviews or research reviews. Telling re: facebook's priorities and how much of a crisis it's in right now https://www.wsj.com/...
@adamholisky @adamholisky on x
Why this is a bad idea: 1. Teams won't know what other teams are doing, and the most important thing is TRANSPARENCY in a large organization. 2. All this will do is encourage more off the record conversation. The right move? Build a culture of shared success. https://twitter.com/…
@julieverhage Julie VerHage-Greenberg on x
They weren't already doing this?! https://twitter.com/...
@davidclinchnews David Clinch on x
Ethical Product Development should be mandatory https://twitter.com/...
@emilyglazer Emily Glazer on x
NEW: Facebook is slowing new products for “reputational reviews” to examine how it may be criticized & to ensure products don't adversely impact children, sources say. Executives have also put a hold on some work on existing products. By me + @dseetharaman https://www.wsj.com/...
@carnage4life Dare Obasanjo on x
One thing this article broaches but doesn't get into us that only 10% of FB users are in the US. This means Facebook knows first hand polarization is a U.S. quirk not inherent to its platform and that most countries just pass laws versus endless hearings. https://stratechery.com/…
@peegeekay Praveen Gopal Krishnan on x
Beautiful, amazing read by @benthompson about Facebook and it's political problems. If all you are doing is attack everything that Facebook does, and want a nuanced take, I recommend reading this. https://stratechery.com/...
@arpitrage Arpit Gupta on x
Nice post by @benthompson articulates one of the key benefits of Facebook—the ability to access a broad consumer base, and thereby decrease the cost of consumer acquisition for new businesses. Not obvious the resulting connectivity is helpful though. https://stratechery.com/... h…
@nickheer Nick Heer on x
And it misses the ethical point entirely. The problem is not so much that a Facebook engineer or a third-party could read through your dossier. The problem is the persistent surveillance.
@s8mb Sam Bowman on x
This is a very good post summarising the political problems (and non-problems) Facebook has as the “social infrastructure” of the internet. https://stratechery.com/...
@nickheer Nick Heer on x
“It is exceedingly unlikely that Facebook could even make the data about any one individual readable by a human [...]” is a weird claim to make when Facebook shows users which precise advertising buckets they fall into and external website data collected. https://stratechery.com/…
@brian_armstrong Brian Armstrong on x
1/ I do worry that as companies get to be more successful, the number of attacks from press, politicians, and trolls on CEOs (and rounds of congressional testimony) makes the job not fun, and they leave from burn out. Gates, Page, Bezos...
@mattdrange Matt Drange on x
Whistleblowers have upended virtually every corner of Silicon Valley in recent years. The headlines are impossible to miss. But for many tech workers, *how* whistleblowers come forward is a mystery. A new handbook published today aims to change that: https://www.businessinsider.c…
@counteringcrime Acco on x
1/ Facebook whistleblower @FrancesHaugen's internal documents, memos and recent testimony prove what we have always known: That Facebook knows the harms that occur on their platforms and willfully ignore them, putting profits over public safety. https://www.youtube.com/...
@ifeomaozoma Ifeoma Ozoma on x
This Handbook is for workers but it's also for reports, consumers, policymakers, advocates. We ALL benefit when tech workers are better prepared to share information that's in the public interest. This week is perfect proof of exactly how critical it is to support whistleblowers.…
@nikichristoff Niki Christoff on x
Being a whistleblower is dangerous and expensive. @IfeomaOzoma: “Preparedness is power.” https://www.protocol.com/...
@willoremus Will Oremus on x
So I defended Haugen's stance on not breaking up Facebook as more coherent than it might sound. That said, here is a good @mattstoller piece that makes a very persuasive case that she is wrong. https://mattstoller.substack.com/ ...
@ggreenwald Glenn Greenwald on x
This “whistleblower” is telling Dems and corporate media everything they want to hear: namely, transferring control of social media to the government for “regulation” and censorship is the only way to solve the problem. FB sees the benefit in this, too: https://twitter.com/...
@brianstelter Brian Stelter on x
“The problem with Facebook is us. We've been weaponized against ourselves. Our personal data, our insecurities, our tribal tendencies, our fears. It's all bringing us down. We have become twitchy social media addicts ready to melt down or explode with the slightest provocation” h…

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